A mother has been arrested on suspicion of killing her three young daughters after they were found stabbed to death in their Southern California home.

Police were called to Carol Coronado's home near Torrance where they were met by family members who told officers she had killed her children.

The 30-year-old was found lying next to the youngsters, who were aged two, one and two months.

Several knives were recovered from the scene, authorities said.

Image Caption:Police outside Coronado's home in Torrance, south California

Witnesses said Coronado was covered in blood and naked other than a blanket as police took her away.

"She was full of blood on her face and arms," neighbour Ashley Madrid told the Daily Breeze newspaper.

Coronado was treated in hospital before being taken to a police station where she will be charged with murder, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Ms Madrid told the Daily Breeze that the children's father was working on his car across the street when his mother-in-law discovered her daughter and the three children lying in a pool of blood on a bed.

She said: "I saw when they were bringing him out. He was crying. He was crying, 'She killed my daughters'."